Treating and preventing urinary infections 105
Treating and preventing urinary infections
Bladder infection
Most women can tell when they have a bladder infection because they have
pain or burning when they pass urine, or they have pain in the lower belly
just after passing urine.
If you have no feeling in the belly, you will have to look for some of
these other signs:
• need to pass urine very often
• cloudy-looking urine
• urine that smells bad
• urine that has blood or pus in it
• sweating or feeling hot (signs of dysreflexia, see page 117)
Smelly urine is a
sign of infection.
Treatment for a bladder infection
Start treatment as soon as you notice the signs.
• Drink a lot of water. Try to drink at least 1 cup of clean water
every 30 minutes. This will make you pass urine often and
can help wash out germs before the infection gets worse.
• Stop having sex for a few days or until the signs have gone away.
Often bladder infections can
be treated with teas or other
plant remedies. Ask the older
women in the community
which plants will help.
If you do not feel better in 1 to 2 days, start taking medicines as
well as drinking alot of water. If you do not feel better in 2 more days, see a health
worker. You may have a sexually transmitted infection (see page 158).
Medicines for bladder infection
Medicine
How much to take
When to take
cotrimoxazole
2 tablets of 480 mg
(160 mg trimethoprim and
800 mg sulfamethoxazole)
by mouth, 2 times a day
for 3 days
or
nitrofurantoin
100 mg
by mouth, 2 times a day
for 3 days
Kidney infection
Sometimes a bladder infection can spread through the urine tubes into the kidneys.
Kidney infections are more serious than bladder infections.
A Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities 2007